I like this time at night on HBT

Airplanedoc said:

I should be more clear, The first time you set up your press is a bit difficult, after you have done it, its a piece of cake to set up your second set of dies, same with adjustments. I have a progressive, so all my dies remain in the head, I run off 3-5 rounds weigh and measure, if they are all in spec, start cranking them out. I then weigh and measure again a few times, on a sliding scale depending on what I am loading.

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I got a old press and I mean old like 1940 or so. But it runs true and since I like old stuff I use it. I weigh every load of powder and every bullet along with every case. I trim each case every time I fire it and true up the primer hole and anneal it. It takes me awhile to load a batch but I know it will group under a half inch with my big bores and the small bores under a quarter inch.

Doing all that kind of makes you want to insure you can make the shot before you take it. I know it is way over kill but shooting mile targets you really need to have stuff done right.

So takin out Varmint's overkill, how long would say 100 typical rifle rounds take to reload?

I've never loaded ammo. But I remember one time I was shooting with a guy who was shooting ammo he loaded, and took a 30-30 shot and the side of the casing ruptured and it got jammed in the receiver. The bullet did exit luckily but he had to dig the casing out with pliers. I would have been so incredibly pissed if it had been my gun (I was shooting my Henry 30-30 as well. I'm not sure what he did wrong, as I don't load ammo. But I'm sure it was stupid.

My stepfather's mini-14 was destroyed by one of his friend's loads. He was injured too, but not seriously. Even so, I'm a fairly strict attention-to-detail type of guy, so I'm confident this is another hobby I can master if I decide to do it. Plus, it will keep me shooting more which is great for my job. I may even be able to write off some of the costs (I already write off some range time and ammo every year).

Honestly, I'm thinking having been a homebrewer really helps, as Airplanedoc pointed out. I totally agree with that.

Airborneguy said:

So takin out Varmint's overkill, how long would say 100 typical rifle rounds take to reload?

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I have never used a progressive but I know they are bloody fast. Maybe 15 minutes if you are set up and running. Sigh my way 5 hours maybe

I guess you have to know how to do both ways right? I mean for my hunting rounds, I'd probably do your style. For training, popping off rapid fire at the range, I wouldn't be as concerned with groupings.

Varmintman said:

I am thinking that would have brought tears. Nope not thinking but pretty sure it would have brought tears

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That's your problem right there.

Airborneguy said:

I guess you have to know how to do both ways right? I mean for my hunting rounds, I'd probably do your style. For training, popping off rapid fire at the range, I wouldn't be as concerned with groupings.

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I treat my hunting rounds the same as I do plinking rounds. But I plink at 600 yrds shooting pop cans and golf balls at 300.

It is a different style of shooting that I do. Most guys would hesitate to shoot a elk past 300 yrds but I feel very confident with a good rest that I can make the shot out to 1000 yrds. Heck the kill zone on a elk is the size of a large dinner plate. Heck I shoot rock chucks that far

I think for most guys a progressive is the way to go. The added accuracy is not that much and will not mean a thing on a critter the size of a elk at 300 yrds.

And also let me say both styles of shooting are great. I would never think that I am having anymore fun than anyone else shooting. Heck my best hunt ever I was shooting voles with a bb gun here at the house

Leadgolem said:

That's your problem right there.

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Oh yea I can pretty much assure I am going into hiding for a bit. Let my wife deal with it

I can pretty easily load 500+ 45 ACP/hour. A little less .223, due to a few more measurements, and the bullets and my fat fingers don't mix well. I have a progressive, but also have a old single stage rock chucker. I can knock out 100 30-06 taking my time in half hour, if my press is set up ready to run.

Below is a video of the press I use. The same company makes this


so they know a little about what they are doing

Airplanedoc said:

I can pretty easily load 500+ 45 ACP/hour. A little less .223, due to a few more measurements, and the bullets and my fat fingers don't mix well. I have a progressive, but also have a old single stage rock chucker. I can knock out 100 30-06 taking my time in half hour, if my press is set up ready to run.

Below is a video of the press I use. The same company makes this

so they know a little about what they are doing

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0__OViMcaA&feature=player_embedded

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There should be places you can go to shoot something like that, for a fee.

Dragon Arms in Colorado Springs had stuff like that available for rent in the early 2000's. I'm sure they still do.

I think I'm going to start by reading a book to see if I really want to do this now.

Airplanedoc said:

I can pretty easily load 500+ 45 ACP/hour. A little less .223, due to a few more measurements, and the bullets and my fat fingers don't mix well. I have a progressive, but also have a old single stage rock chucker. I can knock out 100 30-06 taking my time in half hour, if my press is set up ready to run.

Below is a video of the press I use. The same company makes this

so they know a little about what they are doing

Click to expand...

I like the dillons and I really like the way you can set up the press to neck size.

I debated getting a dillon for the 50 but went with the RCBS instead.

You can't even hunt deer with a rifle in this backward a$$ state, the longest range I am aware of in my area is 300yds. If I was doing 1000yd shots, I would probably switch to a single stage, of course you are probably shooting a lot fewer rounds at those distances, so ou don't really need to load 500/hr

bottlebomber said:

There should be places you can go to shoot something like that, for a fee.

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In a discussion once about full autos, someone posted that you should go rent one, for a hour, then determine if your wallet is deep enough for a full auto.

The novelty wears off pretty quick when you get the ammo bill, even for a m-16

It would be a hell of a fun way to blow a few grand thou.

Airplanedoc said:

In a discussion once about full autos, someone posted that you should go rent one, for a hour, then determine if your wallet is deep enough for a full auto.

The novelty wears off pretty quick when you get the ammo bill, even for a m-16

It would be a hell of a fun way to blow a few grand thou.

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I can imagine. I will blow through $100 worth of ammo by myself, in an hour, shooting single action firearms. The last thing my wallet needs is a bullet hose.

They're fun though. Man if there's one thing I miss about the Army, it's shooting full-auto. MK-19... Oh my god!

Just had to yell at one of the civilian employees under me. I hate getting heated like that, but I lost it. Ugh. Guess I better get used to it because I'm tired of her nonsense.

bottlebomber said:

Woah woah woah.. Easy there buddy.

What is the best stew rat?
How long do you smoke possum?
Do you take Ambien?
Do you play disc golf?
What position?

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Ha

Varmintman said:

Oh yea I can pretty much assure I am going into hiding for a bit. Let my wife deal with it

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Good idea. Even women have a hard time dealing with teen girls.

Varmintman said:

My 15 year old daughter is going to her first formal. My god the estrogen is killing me around here and to think they complain about the brew smell

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All I have to say is that it will get worse before it gets better, but eventually it will get better.

Airborneguy said:

Just had to yell at one of the civilian employees under me. I hate getting heated like that, but I lost it. Ugh. Guess I better get used to it because I'm tired of her nonsense.

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Failure to do the work assigned?

Long story with too much explaining necessary for this type of conversation. Basically I gave her a break on something a few days ago and today she was willing to let it bite me in the ass with one of my bosses. From now on, she's doing everything correctly, which is what I had to tell her in a raised, stern voice. I actually stopped a LT from talking when I started getting pissed. He told me later he was very pleased with what I said and how I handled it.

Let this be a lesson to all you dads out there. I thought I raised my daughter better. She could skin a coyote and loves to fish and camp. But dang man once they start looking at boys all the training goes to hell. All she cares about now is frills and stuff.

I've never had to manage downward (though I have babysat many a boss), which is one of the many downers of being an assistant. Recently, I had to go over an IT guy's head and talk to his boss's boss because a major problem was being held up by red tape and nonsense for over 3 days. Calls went unanswered, problem persisted, and now the boss is looking at me as if it was my fault. Not having it.

Looking back I probably went too far, presenting an itemized list of how said rep failed to support us and another presenting how it had affected our organization.

I'm really not a fan of conflict because I hate those folks who enjoy rattling their sabres as a way to demonstrate power, but I had had enough.

By the way, my pastry chef friend and his fiance came over last night to help me bottle. I'm not an orderly mind, so having Adam, a Columbia professor, help me develop a plan was great.

I have 9 bottles of stout and 7 fliptops of primed apfelwein ready to roll. Hopefully this weekend I can brew another gallon of beer and another gallon of apfelwein and rinse/repeat.

Something annoying though... my sample test jar is too wide. I put my hydrometer in and CLUNK, to the bottom it goes.

Tried adjusting the level of the liquid but nothing. I'm obviously doing something wrong... hopefully its wrong with the reading and not with the beer.

Even almost full it goes right to the bottom?

Yeah. This is both the beer and the apfelwein. I might not have any clue what Im doing with beer, but Im pretty sure I have gotten apfelwein down pat... so no comprendo.

Creamy did you check if your hydrometer is working properly in water?

I didnt. I think before I do my next brew I am going to have to watch a video on hydrometer 101, because I have been brewing all this time without one.

Weird tale but a common one I am sure. When I first started brewing I was forever taking samples to see where I was in the fermentation. Then once I got a system down I quit taking them before bottling and only to check my starting gravity. Then one day I dropped it and then for months I never checked at all.

Now for some reason I am checking sg and fg and recording them in a brew log. Is the beer any better well no but I still do it.

By the way, bottling from a pot with an autosyphon is a PITA but a lot of fun.

Adam: "pump more! no hold on! a little more! ack, it got excited."

I definitely got some primed stout foam on my nose that way.

Airborneguy said:

Long story with too much explaining necessary for this type of conversation. Basically I gave her a break on something a few days ago and today she was willing to let it bite me in the ass with one of my bosses. From now on, she's doing everything correctly, which is what I had to tell her in a raised, stern voice. I actually stopped a LT from talking when I started getting pissed. He told me later he was very pleased with what I said and how I handled it.

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No good deed goes unpunished

I love some good solid confrontation at work.

Of course you do, you're 6'13...

CreamyGoodness said:

Of course you do, you're 6'13...

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I never use my size to intimidate people here.. I just kick their asses with mind bullets

bottlebomber said:

I never use my size to intimidate people here.. I just kick their asses with mind bullets

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Everytime I go to Walmart they're out of mind bullets.

Would that be for a bolt action, semi-auto or assualt type mind? What is the capacity of the mental magazine? How quick can you quip?

I would say I have a mind flintlock. Usually the quip comes a few seconds after the hammer has already come down and stuck the flashpan spark.